Refrigerating apparatus.



D. H. SCOTT.

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29, I9I5.

1,1 86, 1 37 Patented June 6, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

W/TNESSES: HVVENTOR 4%; @i/ H /1 am 77- MM By ATTORNEYS DUDLEY H. SCOTT,0F CLEVELAND, OHIO.

-BEFRIGEBATING APPARATUS.

Specification'of Letters Patent.

Patented June 6, 1916.

Application filed larch 29, 1915. Serial No. 17,897.

To all whom it 112 (13 concern:

Be it known that I, DUDLEY H. Soon, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerating Apparatus,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in refrigerating apparatus for icerinks, and the improvementcomprises a new and useful arrangement andconstruction of circulating pipes and devices for the refrigeratingmedium whereby an ice floor may be produced and maintained for skatingpurposes at a low cost and in the most effective manner.

Stating the objects of the invention more specifically, my improvedapparatus is particularly designed to produce initial freezing of alarge sheet of water into a .solid body of ice without cracks orimperfections at much lower temperatures and more quickly thanheretofore; also, to circulate the refrigerating medium at equabletemperatures uniform distances over different lines of pipe within andwithout the sheet of ice, and in reverse directions alternately; also,to drain, vent and eflect cleaning of the circulating lines of pipe andmain connections rapidy and conveniently; also, to facilitate repairs,disconnections and replacements in the most direct way without impairingthe ice body or draining the entire system of the refrigerating medium;also, to insulate the valves and pipe connections outside of the icebody in a cheap and effective way which will permit quick and convenientaccess to and observation of said parts in case of leakage; also, toaccommodate-expansion and contraction and flexing of the circulatingpipes and their connections; and, to reduce the labor and cost oferection of an installation of this kind as well as in the maintenancethereof.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a transverse section of an icerink installation comprising the mains and headers and a singletransverse floor pipe connected therewith, and showing the compartmentsfor the headers and mains at opposite sides of the rink or building.Fig. 2 is a detail view of one header and its floor pipe connections,including the vent end of the upper main pipe. Fig. 3 is a reduced planview of the floor pipes, headers and mains, the headers and mains beingarbitrarily arranged in parallel ofi'set relations to better disclosetheir respective connections.

In producing and maintaining an ice body for skating purposes, thepractice is to force a refrigerating medium, such as calcium chloridthrough a multiplicity of parallel pipes placed relatively close to eachother on a flat foundation. These pipes and the foundation are coveredby water at intervals and frozen until an ice body of several inches inthickness is produced, and the area covered is relatively large,necessarily, where a large number of skaters must be accommodated. Infact, the actual requirements for a public ice rink call for a veryextensive sheet of ice which must be relatively thin and of uniformthickness for economical maintenance by forced refrigeration from withinand which should possess a smooth and good skating surface and be freefrom cracks and imperfections for the entire period of its use andmaintenance from day to day for six or more successive months in theyear. The initial production of sucha large field or sheet of ice takesseveral days or longer dependent on the methods employed, but when theice body is formed the floor pipes are permanently inaccessible unlessthe ice body is destroyed. These conditions, and others, have a vitalbearing on my invention and must be understood and recognized to make myinvention clear. Furthermore, the initial cost and the life of a floorinstallation must be taken into account and as to this my object hasbeen to greatly lessen the cost and to lengthen the life of such aninstallation as well as to further other objects.

Now detailing, the invention, the floor pipes 2 are of relatively smalldiameter, preferably three-quarters of an inch internal diameter, andhave a length more or less in excess of the width of the ice floor 3 sothat the ends of each pipe 2 will extend beyond the side borders orboundaries 4 thereof and project a short distance into the compartments5 and 6 on opposite sides of the rink or building beneath the twoplatforms 7 and 8 therein. All the pipes 2 are of equal length laid on asand or concrete foundation 9 in parallel lines approximately fourinches apart center to center and the total number of floor pipes usedis dependent upon the area of ice body desired. The length of the icebody may be two hundred feet, more or less, and the pipes 2 areconnected at their opposite ends to short distributing headers 10 and 11respectively, to provide independent groups or sub-divisions of uniformnumbers of the pipes and independently controllable sections of icebody. That is to say, in a practical installation, a series of pipes 2,fifteen or eighteen in number, are connected to two cast iron headersfive to six feet long and approximately four inches in diameter and-thisarrangement is duplicated and multiplied as may be needed to extend thearea to be covered. The headers of the adjacent groups or sub-divisionsof pipes are laid in a straight line with their ends contiguous or insuch near relations as will bring the two adjacent pipes 2 of each groupinto the same uniform spaced relations as all the other pipes. All pipes2 are located on the same horizontal plane, but the respective headers10 and 11 are placed on lower and. higher planes relatively to pipes 2and each other to prevent trapping of air and to effect draining of thepipes and system. Furthermore, the header connections comprise Tfittings 12 at the ends of each pipe 2 which have removable screw plugs13 or their equivalent axially in line with the bore of the pipe topermit cleansing of each individual pipe when matter accumulatestherein. This is a decided advantage as the placing of a single floorpipe out of working commission produces a corresponding deleteriouseffect on the ice body and makes the floor as a whole useless forskating purposes. In the event of leakage in any given pipe after longusage it is also possible to re-line the pipe with a copper bushing ortube inserted through the fitting thereby avoiding the removal of thepipe and destruction of the ice floor. The header connections alsocomprise short vertical pipes or branches 16 having nipple and unionmembers 17, whereby the initial erection of the installation issimplified and cheapened and each and every pipe 2 easily disconnectedand replaced when repairs are required. The short pipes or branches 16are sufficiently flexible to adjust and overcome slight irregularitiesin length or placement of the pipes, and also to accommodate anyexpansion or contraction of the pipes, and by extending pipes 2 beyondthe side edges of foundation 9, a certain degree of flexibility is alsoafforded thereat.

Each header has a single vertical pipe connection 17 with the maindistributing pipes 18 and 19, which are alined directly above or belowthe headers; and an offset connection is made by employing nipples andelbows 20, and angle valves 21 having flanged, screw-threaded, or unionends.

In this way, each header can be easily connected and disconnected to themain distributing pipes and each valve is easily attached and detachedand conveniently placed for control and observation, and the said partsare also compactly related which is of advantage in insulating them. Oneof the most effective insulating mediums consists of ground cork, andthis material is loosely or tightly packed around the pipes and valveswithin the compartments 5 and 6 which have inclined bottoms 22 to drainoff leakage. ()ne side wall of the separate compartments is also of aknockdown construction comprising uprights 23 and doors or hatches 24resting on stepped bases 25, and the upper ends of the said compartmentsare left open preferably above the doors or hatches to give convenientaccess to the handles 26 of the angle valves 21.

A further important feature of the invention consists in the way theheaders and main pipes are connected to distribute the refrigeratingfluid uniformly throughout any given sub-division or all of the floorpipes, including the main pipes. To obtain uniform freezing resultsthroughout the ice body it is obvious that the refrigerating mediumshould possess uniform temperature at all corresponding points of travelin each given subdivision and also in all the groups of floor pipes andtheir respective headers. To effect this desired. result it is necessarythat the distance of travel over each individual pipe 2 and the mainpipes shall be the same, and therefore, I place the pipe connections 17for each header 10 at one extreme end of the header and locate thecorresponding pipe connection 17 for each header 11 at the opposite endthereof, or diagonally opposite viewing the two headers and the floorpipes of any given group in plan, see Fig. 3. All the headers areconnected alike, and the result is that the refrigerating fluid iscompelled to travel the same distance and at uniform temperaturesthrough each and every header and each and every floor pipe 2. Forexample, note that the how of fluid through the main pipes and the firstpipe 2 in the first group is exactly the same distance as the flow offluid over the last pipe 2, in the same group as indicated by thearrows, Fig. 3 and beginning at A and ending at B, also that the samedistance of flow of fluid takes place in each and every group of pipes,as indicated by the arrows in the last group, bottom of Fig. 3. Areverse flow of the fluid gives the same result, and such reversal isoften resorted to at intervals to obtain uniform refrigerating effectsat opposite sides of the ice floor. Main pipe 18 is located at a lowerlevel than any of the other pipes, and main pipe 19 is highest and aboveall other pipes and connections, and a vertical air vent or relief pipe28 extends from the capped end of pipe 19 to positively prevent thetrapping of air in the system during starting operations and thereafter.

A uniform distribution of the refrigerating medium through Separatesub-divisions of floor pipes is of material benefit in vproducing theice body initially as a much lower temperature of the refrigeratingmedium can be maintained constantly for portion of the refrigeratingarea than for the maximum area covered by the pipes. In practice,separate sections or subdivisions of the ice body are producedsuccessively at very low temperatures, and in this way the entire sheetof ice is produced more quickly and the ice is materially lower intemperature at that time than duringmaintenance thereof in the futurethereby absolutely preventing contractions of the ice to the point ofcracking during maintenance.

What I claim is:

1. In refrigerating apparatus for producing and maintaining an ice floorfor skating purposes, separate groups of parallel floor pipes, separateheaders at opposite ends of each group of pipes, and the opposite endsof said pipes being connected with the upper and lower portions of theirrespective headers to effect complete and rapid venting and drainingthereof.

2. In refrigerating apparatus for producing and maintaining an ice floorfor skating purposes, parallel fioorpipes, separate headers connectedwith the opposite ends of said pipes, main circulating pipes for saidheaders, pipe connections between the upper side of the main circulatingpipe and the bottom side of the headers at one end of said floor pipes,and pipe connections between the upper side of the headers and thebottom side of the main circulating pipe at the otherend of said floorpipes.

3. In refrigerating apparatus for producing and maintaining an ice floorfor skating purposes, parallel floor pipes, separate headers, andvertical pipe connections for the opposite ends of said floor pipes andsaid headers.

In refrigerating apparatus for producing and maintaining an ice floorfor skating purposes, parallel floor pipes, separate headers, andvertical pipe connections for said headers in detachable couplingrelations with the opposite ends of said floor pipes.

5. In refrigerating apparatus for producing and maintaining an ice floorfor skating purposes, parallel floor pipes, separate headers at oppositeends of said pipes, vertical pipe connections between said headers andfloor pipes, and, removable closure means for. the opposite ends of saidfloor pipes.

6. In refrigerating apparatus for producing and maintaining an ice floorfor skating purposes, parallel floor pipes, fittings for said pipeshaving removable closure means opposite the ends of said pipes, headers,and vertical pipes having union couplings to detachably connect theheaders to said fittings.

7. In refrigerating apparatus for producing and maintaining an ice floorfor skating purposes, parallel floor pipes, headers for said pipes, amain feed pipe and a main return pipe, and offset pipe connections forsaid main pipes and headers having angle valves detachably connectedtherewith.

8; In refrigerating apparatus for producing and maintaining an ice floorfor skating purposes, parallel floor pipes, headers having verticalbranches detachably connected to the.ends of said floor pipes, maincirculating pipes, and angle valves and pipe connections between saidheaders and main pipes.

9. In refrigerating apparatus for producing and maintaining an ice floorfor skating purposes, separate groups of parallel floor pipes, headerson lower and higher horizontal planes than said fioor pipes having pipeconnections with the opposite ends of each group of pipes, maincirculating pipes on higher and lower horizontal planes than saidheaders and having pipe connections therewith, and a vent pipe for theupper main pipe.

10. In refrigerating apparatus for producing and maintaining an icefloor for skating purposes, a floor with terminating walls at oppositesides thereof, in combination with parallel floor pipes on said floorextending at opposite ends beyond said walls, headers above and belowthe opposite ends of said pipes and main circulating pipes having branchpipes connected with said headers.

11. In refrigerating apparatus for producing and maintaining an icefloor for skating purposes, a floor and compartments on opposite sidesthereof, in combination with parallel pipes on said floor extending intosaid compartments, headers and main pipes having pipe connections witheach other and with said floor pipe extensions located in saidcompartment, insulating material, and means to confine said materialWithin said compartment about said headers and pipes.

12. In refrigerating apparatus for producing and maintaining an icefloor for skating purposes, a floor and compartments at each sidethereof, in combination with parallel floor pipes on said floorextending into said compartments, headers and main pipes and connectingpipes for said floor pipe extensions located in said compartments,insulating material packed within said compartments about said headersand pipes, and a removable side wall for said compartments.

13. In refrigerating apparatus for producing and maintaining an icefloor for skating purposes, a floor and compartments at each sidethereof having inclined bottoms, in combination with groups of parallelpipes on said floor having separate headers connected with the ends ofsaid pipes and located within said compartments, main pipes and pipeconnections with said headers hav- 111,,2 valves, insulating materialwithin sa d compartment about said headers and valves,

and a removable side wall for each compartment above its inclined bottomopposite said headers.

14. In refrigerating apparatus for producing and maintaining an icefloor for skating purposes, a floor and compartments at each sidethereof, in combination. with parallel pipes on said fioor extendinginto said compartments, headers and main pipes in superposed relationsWithin said compartments having vertical pipe connections with eachother and with said floor pipe extensions, and valves for each headerconnection.

15. In refrigerating apparatus for producing and maintaining an icefloor for skating purposes, groups of parallel floor pipes, separateheaders connected with. the opposite ends of the floor pipes of eachgroup, main circulating pipes parallel With all the head ers, and theopposite ends of the respective headers of each group of floor pipesaving apipe connection with said main circulating pipes.

10. In refrigerating apparatus for producing and maintaining an icefloor for skating purposes, groups of parallel floor pipes, separateheaders connected with the opposite ends of said floor pipes ondifferent horizontal planes above and below the same, main circulatingpipes at higher and lower elevations than said headers, a ventconnection for the higher main pipe, and the opposite ends of therespective headers of each group of floor pipes having a pipe connectionwith said main circulating pipes.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of a WitnessDUDLEY H. SCOTT.

Witness GEO. E. KRIGKER.

